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by FrankiValerie



Series: After Omega [11]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Emotions, F/M, Feels, Grissom Academy, Hurt, Jaleb, Lady - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 13:04:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10991511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankiValerie/pseuds/FrankiValerie
Summary: No real title for this yet...Caleb and Rory are characters created by @tortuga_rebel and he's a bloody sweetheart who let's me puppet his characters for this writing. (DANCE PUPPETS DANCE)#JalebIsLove#JalebIsLife





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Caleb wanted to pilot the shuttle back down himself, but Rory insisted he sit in the co-pilot chair, reclined, and resting.  

“Rory, she’s not gonna--”

“Respectfully, Captain, you’re still pretty beaten up from the last time you saw Jack.  And Treya’s gonna walk if you keep ignoring her recommendations.  We need her on board and you know it.”

He’d let her have that argument and reclined in the co-pilot’s seat, but couldn’t relax or rest until he had Jack with him again.  He saw in her eyes how much she loved that place, how peaceful she found it… he could only imagine how she’d be feeling now.  Every fibre of him wanted to make it better, but how could he?

When the academy was in sight, Rory hailed docking control.  Caleb heard Evan’s voice through the comm, the chatty kid Jack had left him with before her first class.  

“Oh, you’re from Lady…” he said, breaking the professional tone in his voice, “You’re here to pick up Jack?” 

Rory didn’t pick up on the change, “Yes.  Can you give us docking coordinates?”  

Evan cleared his throat, “Sending them now… bay 5 is free. I’ll let Jack know you’re here.”

* * *

When Caleb stepped off the shuttle, he saw Sanders and Prangley but no Jack.  Prangley was arguing, red in the face, with a tired-looking Sanders.  She was the first to spot him and tried to straighten her face.  Prangely followed her gaze and started toward Caleb.   

“Caleb! You can’t take --”  

Sanders interrupted, placing her hand firmly on Prangely’s shoulder and stepping between the two, “Jason, we’ve been over this… there’s nothing we can do now. We have to--”  

“We have to _try_! This is total bullshit we --” 

Sander’s raised her voice, “Ensign, I will not tolerate that language! Even under the current circumstances.”  

Prangely tried to interrupt again but she raised her voice further, “You are to follow your orders; which are to stay in your dorm until Ms Nought is clear of the station.  Am I clear?” 

The teenager looked close to tears at this point, his jaw set hard and eyes bloodshot.  But he pulled his heels together, straightened his back and gave a quick, half-hearted salute.   

“Yes ma’am.” he looked to Caleb again then stormed off.   

Kahlee watched him leave a moment then exhaled and turned to Caleb, her face straightened again, professional, “Mr Ortez.  I’m sorry you had to return on such unfortunate circumstance.”  

His stomach was in knots, even more so after seeing Prangley so passionately upset; “What happened?” was all he could muster.

Kahlee exhaled again, looked around then stepped back, gestured for him to follow and made for the exit, “I’ll take you to Jack.  I can’t explain much, due to confidentiality, you understand.  It’s an alliance issue, there are protocols.”  

She looked to Caleb and he nodded curtly, “I get it, you can’t share alliance shit with some merc.”  

“In short, yes.” she tensed as she spoke, he could hear the change in her footsteps, her gait tightened.  He glanced to her again and saw her jaw clench, “What I can tell you is that...  a child is in critical condition in the medbay and… and the board have found Jack to be at fault.”  

Caleb stopped and stared, “What?! Bullshit! That’s total fucking bullshit, Jack _has_ never and _would_ never hurt any kid -- not after--” he bit his tongue, not knowing how much Kahlee knew of Jack’s past or how much Jack would want her to know.  He repeated; “She’d never hurt a kid, _not ever_.”  

When Kahlee met his eyes and nodded, Caleb saw just how complicated all of this was.  How upset she was about it all, “My hope is that we can resolve all of this quickly and clear her name… but for now she needs to be escorted from the Academy until the board can reach their final verdict.  She can have no contact with any of the students until that time, which is why I have to escort you to her and then bring you both back.”  

“... You gotta know this is fucked up.” he finally said, brushing his hand over his hair and moving to follow her again.   

She nodded, continuing her lead, voice low, “So fucked up…”  

* * *

She was stupid. She’d been naive. She should have known. Should have stayed in the Terminus. That’s where she belonged. That was home for psychotic biotics; heavily tattooed former test subjects turned criminals with a lust for destruction. Not here, teaching kids. What had she been thinking? She was stupid. Naive. Should have known better. This life wasn’t for her. It never had been.  

She’d packed in such a hurry that now all she could do was wait.  Her books were thrown carelessly into a duffel bag, some of the covers had eventually torn or ripped off; she was past caring.  She packed a couple pieces of clothes too but otherwise didn’t care about anything else.  It was just stuff, and she could replace it all.   

Now the waiting had gotten to be too much.  She sat on the end of her bed with her legs tucked up, arms around her knees.   

She heard the door open and tensed. The weight of her worries was too much to allow her to lift her head. She was afraid her voice would betray her if she spoke. So she remained still. Curled up on her bed, in the dark, ignoring the stream of light pouring in from the hall.

He spoke softly, pulling the door mostly closed, “You in here, J?”

Caleb… she was unsure if she wanted him here. She needed him, it's why she asked him to come, but the thought of him seeing her this way made her shudder.  She heard his footsteps and tensed more as he got closer.  He paused before joining her on the edge of the bed, “Sanders… gave me a brief.” 

Jack lifted her head and wiped her tears on her sleeve.  Her voice did betray her and shook in her throat, “Never should have come back, C. Fucking stupid to think I could… be a teacher.”

Caleb placed a hand lightly on her back, “Don’t talk like that, J. Those kids adore you, no matter what happens…” he glanced to the door and lowered his voice again, “You should have seen how Prangley was fighting for you to stay.”  

Jack brushed her hand over her hair, staring at the floor.  The events playing over in her mind.  One particularly final, defining moment made her flinch as it played.   

She cleared her throat, shook her head, “Let’s just get out of here.” She impressed herself with how strong her voice sounded in that moment, though knew he’d see how tired and defeated she was as soon as they left the room.   

She got to her feet, grabbed up her duffel and made for the door.   

* * *

 

Prangley paced outside the conference room. All the senior students had decided they needed to protest for Jack before she left the Academy and waited for their opportunity to appeal to the board members meeting on the other side of the door.

It was the first time Rodriguez had noticed that he was a lot like Jack -- when he was upset. He’d taken on a lot of her traits in the time she had been their teacher - this broody pacing was one of them. The scowl on his face was so much like hers. She couldn’t help but smile slightly, though it didn’t last long.  She’d been such an influence on them.  She had to come back.

“It’s been an hour now. She’s gone.” Nasir commented quietly. He, Bolton and Warrik were slumped down against the wall Rodriguez was been leaning against, watching Prangley pace in front of Sanders’ office.

“She wouldn’t have left without telling us.” Prangley snapped back. They recoiled at the agitation that burst from his voice. Rodriguez sighed as she watched Prangley quickly return to his nervous back and forth and finally gave up - sliding down the wall to sit with her classmates in defeat.

“She wasn’t allowed to tell us, Jase.” Warrik muttered

“Did… Did she… y’know... kill him?” Bolton asked, keeping his voice low in hopes Prangley wouldn’t hear.

“Shut your fucking holes, all of you! If you’re not helping you’re just in the fucking way!” Prangley had spun around again and now faced them, directing his nerves and anger toward them.

Nasir opened his mouth to speak again but Sanders stepped through the door at the end of the hall and stopped him in his tracks. She didn’t look happy.

“What are you all doing here? You’ve been instructed to stay in your dormitories until this meeting-” she gestured to the conference room door - “comes to a close.”  

Prangley kept his voice low, almost a plea, “They can’t blame her for this, she was doing everything she could to help him. We have to make them listen - she _can’t_ leave.”  

Kahlee’s hard expression finally broke and she looked over the students.  With a sigh, the said “Jack has already left, Jason.”

The students all looked at her, totally dumbstruck. “...She left us?” Warrick asked.

“She didn’t say goodbye!” Nazir whined.

“She’s coming back though right?” Rodriguez hoped. 

Kahlee sighed again, “That all depends on what the board says… if they find that she is definitely at fault--” she raised her voice to speak over the student’s immediate protests, “-- then she will need to return for further prosecution. If they find she was not at fault… it is still unlikely that she will be asked to return.” The students stared at her, willing her to tell them it was all a joke.  

“... We will need to wait for the board’s final decision.”


End file.
